Strawberry Limeade

I am loving all the delicious strawberries in season right now. They were on sale and I bought a few packages...like 6. Yum! I already made the Strawberry bundt cake and I've been looking for more recipes that use fresh strawberries so I can use mine up before they go bad. Alysia found this one for me and suggested I try it. It was really good. I made a little modification and thought it was delicious. It's the perfect addition to summer dinner (or Spring, in our case).

Here's what you'll need:
3 c. fresh sliced strawberries (about 1 lb.)
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. fresh squeezed lime juice
4 c. cold bubble water (Club soda or sparkling water)

What to do:
Slice your strawberries and mix them with the sugar. Then use a potato masher and squish 'em really good. Allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Once they've sat for a bit, use an immersion blender or a blender to remove all chunks.

Run this mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove all the seeds. Then mix it with the 2/3 c. lime juice and 4 c. of bubble water.  Serve cold and Enjoy!

Strawberry Pretzel Jell-O Salad Cups

Try saying that name 10 times really fast! I found this recipe on...(you'll never guess...) Pinterest! I always thought this salad looked/sounded really gross. Who wants to eat pretzels with Straberry Jell-O!? My sister-in-law brought it to a family function and I made myself try it and I absolutely loved it. I think I ate half of the 9x13 pan by myself. It was that good.

Then I came across this recipe on Pinterest that looked super yummy and it even called for individual serving cups! I bought these cute half-pint jars forever back and now I'd finally get to use them!

While I was making it, I thought the cream layer was a little thick and was going to make these again so I could adjust it, but it ended up being just right and tasted quite fabulous!

I found the recipe here and she says it works great for a 9x13 pan too.
Serves: 10

Here's what you'll need:
1 1/2 c. crushed salted pretzels
4 T. white sugar
10 T. unsalted butter, melted

1 c. sugar
2 (8oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1 t. vanilla extract
1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping, thawed

1 (6 oz.) pkg. strawberry flavored gelatin
2 c. boiling water
1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen sliced strawberries (or fresh will work too)

What to do:
Preheat oven to 350.

Crush the pretzels until you reach the consistency you like- chunky or more of a fine powder. I prefer it with a few pretzel chunks still.  Add the 4 T sugar and the 10 T. melted butter. Divide evenly between 10 single serving size cups (make sure they are bake safe).

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before adding your cream topping.

Cream the sugar, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth. Fold in the whipped topping. Divide evenly between the 10 cups. I didn't quite use all mine. I didn't want the cream layer to take up the entire cup, so I had about 1/4 c. - 1/2 c. leftover. Ellie and Anna were very grateful- they got to dip the beaters over and over again in the leftover cream. ;)

Boil 2 c. of water and then dissolve the gelatin in it. Add the frozen strawberries and place in the fridge for 5 minutes or so- to allow it to thicken a little and cool down so it doesn't melt your cream layer.

Divid evenly among the 10 cups.

Refrigerate for at least an hour and then Enjoy!

Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake

It's strawberry week!  We decided that we can't get enough strawberries at the moment and relized that we've all been trying lots of new strawberry recipes the last couple of weeks.  So we decided to dedicate the whole week to the beautiful, plump, absolutely Spring-like strawberry.  So, if you have one of those big strawberry flats from Costco, that you need to use up, this week is for you!

And I can't think of a better recipe to kick off our strawberry celebration.  This cake is both beautiful and delicious.  It's no secret that I love a good, moist cake, full of fruit. They remind me of the German cakes my mom used to make growing up. And for some reason, putting it in bundt form makes me reminisce even more so. So, when I saw this cake, I almost had to make it. I had hoped it would remind me of a delicious European cake and boy, did it ever.

Moist, tender, delicious... a perfect Springtime dessert that came together simply and beautifully. The fresh strawberries inside are both delicious and really make the cake beautiful.  I simply had to take a picture before the glaze, and it's delicious with or without the glaze.  I could eat this cake everyday... and finished the entire thing almost practically by myself, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I'm already looking for an excuse to make this again... and I'll probably eat it all by myself again, too. 

Source: A Spicy Perspective
Feeds: about 12

1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
4 Tbsp. lemon juice, divided
zest of 1 large lemon
2 1/2 cups flour, divided
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. plain or vanilla yogurt (she recommends Greek, but I used regular yogurt and had no problems)
12 oz. fresh strawberries, cleaned and diced
1 cup powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.  Sift together 2 ¼ cups of flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.


2. With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in 2 Tbsp. lemon juice. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt, mixing just until incorporated.

3.  Toss the strawberries with the remaining ¼ cup of flour. Gently mix them into the batter.

4. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow to cool at least 20 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely. Once cooled whisk together the remaining 2 Tbsp. of lemon juice and the powdered sugar. Drizzle over the top of the cake.